Rivermen charge back to beat IceHogs, 7-6, in OT

Saturday

Nov 12, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 12, 2011 at 11:04 AM

The winning team held a closed-door meeting after the game. The losing team took a pair of game misconducts for abuse of officials.

Neither team was happy, but one was at least relieved after the Peoria Rivermen escaped disaster and thrilled their fans with a 7-6 sudden-death overtime comeback victory Friday over the Rockford IceHogs before 5,099 at Carver Arena.

Dave Eminian

The winning team held a closed-door meeting after the game. The losing team took a pair of game misconducts for abuse of officials.

Neither team was happy, but one was at least relieved after the Peoria Rivermen escaped disaster and thrilled their fans with a 7-6 sudden-death overtime comeback victory Friday over the Rockford IceHogs before 5,099 at Carver Arena.

The Rivermen rolled to a 4-1 lead, collapsed to surrender four goals in the third period and fall behind 6-4, then were rescued by center Phil McRae's hat trick -- two goals of which came in the final 72 seconds -- and an overtime winner from Adam Cracknell in a wild third period and OT session that left both teams in a frenzy.

"I've seen teams blow bigger leads than this," Cracknell said. "I think we got away from everything we were doing right, after we went up 4-1. We can't hang our goaltender out like that. Can't do that to a teammate."

Cracknell followed rookie winger Jay Barriball into the Rockford zone during four-on-four sudden-death to notch the winner. Barriball skated down the left edge of the slot and split the defense, drew both defenders with him, then left a loose puck across the slot. Cracknell gathered it in and ripped it past goaltender Alexander Salak.

"Barriball went to the net and made that play happen," Cracknell said. "He took everyone with him and the puck came right to my stick. Nice to get that one."

Salak slammed his stick on the boards and cornered referee Mark Lemelin, contending he was interfered with by Barriball. Salak and Rockford head coach Ted Dent were later assessed game misconducts for abuse of officials.

The Rivermen, meanwhile, kept their room closed for a while after the game, talking over how they got themselves into the whole predicament.

It was McRae who got them out of it in the final seconds of regulation, when Rockford, cruising with a 6-4 lead and 72 seconds from victory, found itself in trouble when Brian Fahey and Rob Klinkhammer took penalties and Peoria pulled goaltender Jake Allen to build a six-on-three advantage.

McRae set up between the circles and roofed the puck over Salak's glove shoulder at 18:48 of the third period to cut the deficit to within 6-5.

Then, with 27.2 seconds left in regulation, he did it again, burying a six-on-four drive from the right circle over Salak's glove shoulder for the tie.

"I don't think I had that strong a game, actually," said McRae, who notched his second pro hat trick, both this season. "I got some great passes from the guys I was on the ice with. We let this game slip away, and it was exciting to win it like we did.

"And a relief, too."

Peoria built a 4-1 lead on goals from T.J. Hensick, Cade Fairchild, McRae and Danny Syvret, and rolled out an 11-1 shooting edge in the first 8 minutes of the second period, driving Rockford starting goaltender Alec Richards out of the game.

But Rockford buried Allen with a 27-6 shooting spree in a span of 26:39 extending into the third period to rally into the lead with five unanswered goals.

Ben Smith scored twice (including a game-tying shot that glanced in off Allen's mask at 9:29 of the third period), Jeremy Morin scored twice, and Allen looked like he would remain winless on the 2011-12 season.

Hensick charged down the slot to the doorstep and flipped a backhander over Richards for a 1-0 lead at 9:31 of the first.

Fairchild, who started the game as the top plus-minus leader among all AHL defenseman, pumped a wrister from the right circle through heavy traffic to notch his second pro goal 1:51 later.

RIVER READINGS: Rivermen winger Kyle Hagel, initially thought to be out 4-6 weeks with a dislocated shoulder, got some bad news Friday after a medical re-evaluation. He'll need surgery after all, and will be out for the rest of the season. ... The Rivermen lost defenseman Jake Gannon to a possible concussion during Friday's game. He'll be out for at least the rest of the weekend. ... Peoria called-up defenseman Brian O'Hanley from ECHL Cincinnati after the game. He'll join the team in Rockford on Saturday. ... Rivermen center T.J. Hensick's two-point outing moved him into a four-way tie for the AHL scoring lead. ... The Rivermen wore special military desert camo jerseys on Veterans' Day. Rivermen assistant captain Adam Cracknell's jersey came without an "A" on it, so equipment manager Steve Castelletti fashioned a letter out of a set of blue hockey pants and sewed it on. ... Rivermen wingers Stefan Della Rovere and Jay Barriball both returned to the lineup Friday and played on a line with center Phil McRae.

Dave Eminian covers the Rivermen for the Journal Star. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his sports blog, Cleve's World, at pjstar.com, and follow him on Twitter @icetime.cleve.